The New Taiwan dollar fell for the first week since April as foreign funds sold stocks on concern prices have risen too much, considering the economy is in its worst recession on record. Bonds rose on Friday.
The currency has retreated almost 2 percent since reaching a seven-month high on June 1 as exchange data showed overseas investors sold more local shares than they bought on all but one of the past eight trading days. The benchmark TAIEX index of shares posted its biggest weekly loss since November.
“The things that people are buying are starting to look a little bit expensive,” said Richard Yetsenga, a global currency strategist with HSBC Holdings PLC in Hong Kong. “Equity markets have rallied a long way, and we think they’re primed for some disappointment.”
The NT dollar declined 0.6 percent in the past week to NT$32.800 at the 4pm close on Friday, according to Taipei Forex Inc. It touched NT$32.228 on June 1, the strongest level since October, as the TAIEX fell 1.8 percent, extending its weekly drop to 6 percent.
The NT dollar and the South Korean won are “still exposed to the cyclical risks we see,” Yetsenga said. The won has rallied 17 percent in the past three months.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the Asia’s 10 most-active currencies excluding the yen, fell on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported the US Federal Reserve will resist pressure to increase bond purchases, avoiding more supply of the greenback.
The rupiah declined 1.6 percent this week to 10,095 per dollar in Jakarta, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The peso fell 1.3 percent to 47.86, the most since the five days ended Feb. 20. South Korea’s won dropped 0.9 percent to 1,254.02, while the Indian rupee weakened 1 percent to 47.605.
Markets were closed on Friday in the Philippines for the Independence Day holiday.
Elsewhere, Malaysia’s ringgit fell 0.2 percent this week to 3.505 a dollar and Singapore’s dollar declined 0.4 percent to S$1.4521. China’s yuan was little changed at 6.8338, versus 6.8330 last Friday.
The US dollar advanced against the euro and the yen after Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said his nation’s confidence in US debt is “unshakable” and that the currency’s global status is safe.
The dollar strengthened 0.8 percent to US$1.3997 per euro at 4:07pm in New York, from US$1.4108 on Thursday. The US currency rose 0.8 percent to ¥98.40, from ¥97.63. The euro was little changed at ¥137.73, from ¥137.74.
For the week, the dollar is down 0.3 percent versus the yen and 0.2 percent against the euro. The yen was little changed versus the euro this week.
The Canadian currency dropped 1.5 percent to C$1.1187 per US dollar, heading for a second weekly decline, after crude oil dropped as much as 2.6 percent to US$70.80 a barrel. The krone fell 0.3 percent to 6.3396 per US dollar.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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